Arctic Review on Law and Politics
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On the Vulnerabilities of the Northern Sea Route’s Maritime Transportation System
Get PDFThis study analyses several vulnerabilities in the maritime transportation system of the Northern Sea Route (NSR). The vulnerabilities discussed are already impacting transport and logistics operations on the NSR. These vulnerabilities have greatly increased as a result of Western technological and economic sanctions on Russia and the subsequent departure of Western companies from Russia, where they were previously providers of critical supplies, logistics services, and investments. The cumulative impacts of these vulnerabilities will make the NSR maritime transportation system less efficient and reliable and more prone to failures, reducing operational and environmental standards, impacting safety and increasing the environmental impact of NSR shipping. Russia needs to find suitable replacements for Western technology and services. Chinese companies will likely try to fill the gap left by the departure of Western companies to promote the continuous production of Russian Arctic commodities for export to China
Gaskeuniversiteete (Mid Sweden University) to Host 2024 Polar Law Symposium
Get PDFIn September 2024, Gaskeuniversiteete (Mid Sweden University) will host the Polar Law Symposium. It will be the first time a Swedish university hosts the symposium. This symposium, which began in 2008 during the fourth International Polar Year, serves as a venue for scholars and practitioners to address emerging issues in international law and policy pertaining to the polar regions. This year’s event is scheduled for September 23–25 in Staare (Östersund), Sweden, located in the southern part of Saepmie. The symposium will focus on two primary themes: Implementation of International Minority and Indigenous Law at National Levels, and Governance, Resources, Security, and Jurisdictional Issues in the Circumpolar Area. Mid Sweden University’s role as the host underscores its high-quality multidisciplinary research profile, and growing commitment to Saami studies and research, furthering its mission to enhance collaboration with the Saami community
EU Engagement in the Arctic: Challenges to Achieving Ambitions in an Area outside Its Jurisdiction
Get PDFThe European Union (EU) has underscored its will to heighten its engagement in the Arctic region. Beyond traditional areas of interest – such as tackling climate change, supporting research and developing cooperations – critical resources and security emerged as new topics in the EU’s most recent policy documents. These have become even more critical since February 2022 following Russia’s all-out war against Ukraine. The Circumpolar North is the subject of many challenges caused by climate change and its fragile biodiversity, which, combined with the region’s importance for scientific research, access to natural resources, tourist activities, and military security, places it in a geopolitically strategic position. By focusing on EU ambitions in the Arctic, this article analyses the EU’s potential to implement policies and set consequential trends in an area of political interest outside its jurisdiction. It concludes that core political priorities and sector-specific regulations that directly guide the behaviour of EU members may have more influence than Arctic policy statements
More or Less Ice? Shipping in the Russian Arctic and the Role of Climate Change
Get PDFMelting sea ice has often been presented as a primary driver for development of Arctic shipping, but what role has it played for policies to develop the Northern Sea Route? It may look paradoxical that Russia has embarked on an ambitious icebreaker construction program, given climate change. In Russia, there have been contradictory assessments of further climate developments in the Arctic. Representatives of the nuclear icebreaker fleet have argued that a new cooling period will soon occur, whereas Russian climate science is dominated by unidirectional climate change. Nevertheless, there is agreement that more icebreakers are needed, since shipping activity is expected to increase, and an extended navigation season is an indisputable goal. Nuances in Russian climate science do not seem to play any role in policy planning for Arctic shipping. Shipping through the Arctic emits less greenhouse gases than navigation on conventional southerly routes, which may be used as an argument in favor of the Northern Sea Route. It is doubtful, though, that this will change priorities of international shipping companies, especially as long as international shipping is not subject to emissions standards. Many other considerations will have precedence. Obviously, Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ensuing international tension is affecting trade patterns and investments in the Russian Arctic. In this situation climate change plays less of a role in the development of shipping in the Russian Arctic. But even before the war climate change was less important than often assumed in the international literature
The Karasjok Supreme Court Judgment – and Its Significance for the Legal Survey in Finnmark
Get PDFThe Karasjok judgment was pronounced by the Supreme Court of Norway on 31 May 2024. By a narrow majority (6 to 5), the Supreme Court concluded that neither the population of the municipality of Karasjok as a whole, nor the Sámi part of it, have property rights to outlying fields in the municipality, as the landownership belongs to the Finnmark Estate (Finnmarkseiendommen/FeFo). The Supreme Court thus set aside the Finnmark Land Tribunal’s judgment, in which the conclusion was that the population’s property rights were established through immemorial usage. In this paper, I discuss the significance of this Grand Chamber judgment for the upcoming legal survey, including which scenarios can be expected
Russia’s Ministry of Justice Decision to Label 55 Organizations as Extremists: Implications for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of Russia
Get PDFOn 7 June 2024, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation fulfilled the demand of the Ministry of Justice to label 55 organizations, including those advocating for the rights of Indigenous peoples, as extremists. This decision has triggered significant anxiety among Indigenous communities and human rights activists. This article examines the nature of this decision, the definitions of extremist and extremist organizations under the Russian law, and the implications of this decision for the rights of Indigenous peoples in Russia
Understanding Adaptation Landscapes: Mapping the Complexity of Decision-Making in Reindeer Herding
Get PDFA dynamic world requires people to constantly adapt their behavior and make decisions to maintain or enhance relationships between each other and the environment. Where the combined effects of anthropogenic and environmental change affect the livelihoods of Indigenous people, their options to pursue preferred adaptation strategies are often restricted by competing land uses. In this context, we explore how Sámi reindeer herders in Northern Sweden navigate the complexity of decision-making on adaptation, specifically decisions regarding supplementary feeding when winter grazing resources are inaccessible. How are decisions made and where are they positioned on an adaptation-maladaptation continuum? In a participatory approach with two reindeer herding communities, we use fuzzy cognitive mapping to explore the multi-dimensional complexity surrounding supplementary feeding. Our results emphasize the herders’ conviction that supplementary feeding is not a preferred adaptation strategy. It is rather a forced response driven by complex system dynamics that transform their pastoral landscape. To maintain the preferred traditional herding practices, desired adaptation measures viewed from a herding perspective should thus center at the system level, such as halting the loss and restoring already lost grazing grounds. This would require meaningful recognition and demands inclusion of reindeer herders’ right to self-determination into adaptation policies to mitigate environmental change
Implementing UNDRIP in British Columbia in a Post-Yahey Context: What to Expect After the Yahey v. BC Litigation (S151727) and the Agreement on Industrial Development and Cumulative Effects Management
Get PDFAlmost two years after the ground-breaking verdict that the Supreme Court of British Columbia issued in the context of the Yahey v. BC litigation, on January 18, 2023, the Province of British Columbia signed a historic agreement with Blueberry River First Nation (BRFN) to address the cumulative effects of industrial development on the meaningful exercise of Treaty 8 rights in the Nation’s traditional territory while establishing collaborative approaches to land and resource planning. At the same time, the Province concluded agreements with other Treaty 8 First Nations (Doig River, Fort Nelson, McLeod Lake, Prophet River, Saulteau and West Moberly First Nations) concerning cumulative effects management, land planning and resource exploitation. These agreements have been praised as ground-breaking steps towards a new relationship that Government and Industry are eager to build with First Nations while healing the land and ensuring certainty for Industry to carry on resource development in British Columbia. This happens as the Province and the Federal Government move forward with their action plans to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (hereafter UNDRIP) at the provincial and federal levels. It also comes at a time of significant challenges British Columbia must face, between new First Nations development projects (i.e., the Cedar LNG project) that the Province is actively supporting and recent litigations initiated by some First Nations to see UNDRIP adequately implemented in the BC legal framework (i.e., the trial initiated by Gitxaala and Ehattesaht First Nations concerning the lack of consultation regarding how BC grants mineral claims).
The Impending Population Decline in Northern Norway: Implications and Demographic Challenges
Get PDFThis study presents an analysis of population trends in rural Norway, with a specific focus on the potential implications for rural populations in a long-term perspective. We highlight the significant outward migration of young people from rural areas, which has led to a demographic shift happening at a faster pace and on a larger scale in rural areas compared to central areas. Using North-Varanger, the most north-eastern part of the country, as an example, the article shows that the region has experienced net outward migration for the past 50 years, and if current trends persist, the population in the region could decrease by up to 80 percent by 2100. North-Varanger is an area of strategic importance to Norway. It is also an area of vital importance for the Sami people. This study shows that there is a risk that the population in one of the most strategically important regions will see a dramatic reduction. The only way to reverse this trend is to change the migration patterns and encourage more young families to settle in North-Varanger. This stresses the urgent need for policymakers to re-evaluate current public measures aimed at attracting migrants to rural areas in order to make the measures more effective and to ensure sustainable settlement in the region
Why Active State Measures Have Dominated Regional Policies in Norway by Governments of all Colours: A Historical Review and Comparison with Sweden
Get PDFThis article compares regional policies in Norway to regional policies in Sweden. The article suggests that geographical and geopolitical factors are the main factors that have influenced regional policies. The article points out that the government in Sweden, immediately following WW2, also assumed the role of the active state. However, in contrast to Norway, its policies were disadvantageous to northern Sweden. Later, Swedish governments also implemented policies aimed at strengthening the economic and social conditions in the north. The article demonstrates that even bourgeois governments, who are traditionally ‘less-state-more-market’ oriented than social democratic governments, have used active state measures in their regional policies in Norway. The article points out that geographical and geopolitical factors represent interests that are shared by Norway’s centre and periphery and argues that these factors work as political guidelines that fundamentally influence the continuous use of active state policies by bourgeois governments. It concludes that this influence is stronger than bourgeois governments’ ideological foundations, Keynesian economics and the bureaucracy. Northern Sweden, in comparison, lacks the geographical and geopolitical factors of northern Norway, which explains why fewer active state measures have been used by governments in Sweden than in Norway